it seems the Nats have nothing to lose by waiting another year. Sign him now and there's downside if he gets hurt again, but if he has another year like last, he'll still be looking at roughly the same extension.
There's reasons to do it now. The Nats can offer a bit of a safety net by giving him a big deal now. To cash in on a big free agent contract, he'll have to stay healthy for 3 years. As he gets closer to free agency, he has less incentive to sign with the Nats.
I wonder if anyone (on either side of the negotiations) is considering a looming salary correction on the horizon. Salaries have boomed thanks to the RSN craziness. With ESPN announcing they've lost 7% of their subscribers and with it all sorts of job cuts and panic, you have to think that RSNs are in the same boat and the silly tv deals could come apart at the seams in a couple years.
